3 ms·

Bad advice. Just use a good solder iron, thin solder (possibly leaded), and good no clean flux, then lots of practice. It's all about timing: too quick = cold s

Bad advice. Just use a good solder iron, thin solder (possibly leaded), and good no clean flux, then lots of practice. It's all about timing: too quick = cold solder joint; too slow = burned pad/track, or part. Learn also to understand about thermal mass and how to change the temperature and timings according to what you're soldering and its size. Also, that iron looks like a Hakko "936" cheap clone: they are barely above the garbage level; get a better one. Used Wellers aren't that expensive, and no, you won't need a microcontroller for digital temperature control and all those gimmicks they put in modern solder irons. I also have a PineCil from the same folks that made the PinePhone and was amazed by its quality. Yes, it has a mcu for digital temperature control, but I'd lie if I wrote that I used any of its functions beyond setting the temperature.

picture 4y ago
The PineCil looks like a TS100 clone, though I'm not too sure which came first. The huge benefit of these microcontroller irons are their monolithic heating element that integrates the temperature sensor. This allows for much better temperature control compared to cheap Hakko-style irons where the tip is a metal piece that sleeves over the heating and sensing elements. It makes a very meaningful improvement in terms of the time it takes to heat up parts with high "thermal inertia"
- stavros 4y ago
  The TS100 came first, but the Pinecil is better.
- MivLives 4y ago
  TS100 was first. I believe the Pinecil also takes TS100 tips. I've liked the Pinecil except sometimes mine crashes in the middle of me soldering. I need to update the OS but I'm lazy. It does fail cold (Says it's hot but it's not heating) which is probably the better of the two ways it could go.
  - type0 4y ago
    Let's get to the most important questions, can you play Tetris on Pinecil with the new OS update?
  - squarefoot 4y ago
    There have been reports of defective Pinecil batches, this was after I bought mine and before the newer ones were introduced. There are also reports about fakes sold around, which is not a good thing in this case since the original is already very cheap and 100% Open Source, bot hardware and firmware, and fakes are of inferior quality. The defective batches were among the originals though, but it seems they already solved all problems.
- Steltek 4y ago
  IMO, the killer feature of the Pinecil is that it takes both direct DC power input (like a TS100) and USB-C (like TS80). It's a great versatile little iron. While I have both a Hakko and Weller, I often reach for the Pinecil because it just feels fun to use.
buescher 4y ago
I like my Metcal and wouldn't be without it. But by most accounts the '936 clones do fine with real Hakko tips. A lot of technicians seem to like to have temperature knobs so they can dial the temperature around instead of swapping out for an appropriately sized tip: this works of course except when it doesn't.
- squarefoot 4y ago
  The problem with Hakko clones aren't just the tips but the handpiece whose thermal contact between the heater and the tip is often unreliable, and the low thermal mass makes it hard to solder bigger tabs without raising the temperature to absurd levels. I swapped 3 hand pieces and two heaters on mine before giving up, reverting for a while to my two 40 years old gun shaped irons (25W and 100W) then getting used Wellers, then finally the Pinecil, which I mostly bought because I wanted to support the Pinephone project, and then revealed itself as a really nice and functional solder iron.

picture 4y ago

The PineCil looks like a TS100 clone, though I'm not too sure which came first. The huge benefit of these microcontroller irons are their monolithic heating element that integrates the temperature sensor. This allows for much better temperature control compared to cheap Hakko-style irons where the tip is a metal piece that sleeves over the heating and sensing elements. It makes a very meaningful improvement in terms of the time it takes to heat up parts with high "thermal inertia"

stavros 4y ago
The TS100 came first, but the Pinecil is better.
MivLives 4y ago
TS100 was first. I believe the Pinecil also takes TS100 tips. I've liked the Pinecil except sometimes mine crashes in the middle of me soldering. I need to update the OS but I'm lazy. It does fail cold (Says it's hot but it's not heating) which is probably the better of the two ways it could go.
- type0 4y ago
  Let's get to the most important questions, can you play Tetris on Pinecil with the new OS update?
- squarefoot 4y ago
  There have been reports of defective Pinecil batches, this was after I bought mine and before the newer ones were introduced. There are also reports about fakes sold around, which is not a good thing in this case since the original is already very cheap and 100% Open Source, bot hardware and firmware, and fakes are of inferior quality. The defective batches were among the originals though, but it seems they already solved all problems.
Steltek 4y ago
IMO, the killer feature of the Pinecil is that it takes both direct DC power input (like a TS100) and USB-C (like TS80). It's a great versatile little iron. While I have both a Hakko and Weller, I often reach for the Pinecil because it just feels fun to use.

buescher 4y ago

I like my Metcal and wouldn't be without it. But by most accounts the '936 clones do fine with real Hakko tips. A lot of technicians seem to like to have temperature knobs so they can dial the temperature around instead of swapping out for an appropriately sized tip: this works of course except when it doesn't.

squarefoot 4y ago
The problem with Hakko clones aren't just the tips but the handpiece whose thermal contact between the heater and the tip is often unreliable, and the low thermal mass makes it hard to solder bigger tabs without raising the temperature to absurd levels. I swapped 3 hand pieces and two heaters on mine before giving up, reverting for a while to my two 40 years old gun shaped irons (25W and 100W) then getting used Wellers, then finally the Pinecil, which I mostly bought because I wanted to support the Pinephone project, and then revealed itself as a really nice and functional solder iron.